How to Kill Insects With Vinegar

There are many insects a homeowner has to deal with, even if their home is exceptionally clean. If they have a dog or cat, they also could have to contend with fleas. Bugs are a fact of life and many people want to know how to kill insects with vinegar because they do not want to use harsh chemicals.

How to kill insects with vinegar is a great question when it comes to eliminating a home of bugs without using harsh toxic chemicals. It is also an economical way to rid a house of insects such as silverfish, box elder bugs, fleas and many other small and medium size bugs.

There are a few ways to kill insects with vinegar: with a squirt from a bottle directly on the insect, in the washing machine or a soaking wash cloth where they come in the house. Whichever way a homeowner chooses to employ the vinegar, they need to make sure they choose the highest concentrated vinegar possible because vinegar is diluted before it is shipped to the stores.

Squirt Bottle Method

1. Fill an empty squirt bottle 3/4ths of the way full with strong vinegar. Fill the rest of the squirt bottle with water. However, for the most effective vinegar bug spray, do not dilute the vinegar. Open the windows if the smell is too much.


2. Spray directly on any bug seen in the house.


3. Spray on pets and use a flea comb to 'rake up' the dead fleas as they 'bubble to the surface' of the dog or cats fur. Spray their bedding, the couch and anywhere they lay.

Washcloth Method

1. Fill a large bowl with vinegar, almost to the top. Do not over flow the bowl because you will be soaking the washcloths in this bowl.


2. Soak each washcloth for at least five minutes.


3. Wrap drainpipes with the vinegar soaked cloths. Shove the vinegar soaked cloths down the openings where the pipes come into the house if there is room.


4. Repeat this process in every bathroom and every kitchen area in the home. Then, if there are other places ants or other types of small bugs are entering the home, place a soaking wet vinegar cloth over that entrance as well. Leave the washcloths on the pipes and in the holes until they dry up.

Washing Machine Method

1. Take clothing, bedding and other cloth materials that may be harboring bugs and shake them vigorously outdoors, away from the home.


2. Wash with extra soap, vinegar and hot water as normal.